You know I don't like those presidential signing statements. At least not in the way they have been using them lately. Our forefathers created our system of Government in a manner that each section Legislative, Administrative and Justice were watch dogs over each other. However signing statements circumvent the watchdog concept and allow the sitting president to make decisions without the controls of the 3 branches to oversee.

I do not believe that this was how signing statements were meant to be used. I suspect originally they were setup to allow the president the ability to quickly act in situations of emergencies where time would not exist for full debate and checks thru standard government. Such as an aggressive act against the country or natural disaster requiring immediate action. Using signing statements to allow or not allow stem cell research hardly falls under the catagory of emergency.

Again, what do I know?

My wheelchair has been acting up lately. I think the solid core tires are slipping on the rims. Or my electronic braking system is wearing out. Slipping tires is an easy fix, electric brakes not so easy.

I should be shopping for a new chair since my 5 year time frame is up. Currently I probably do not need one. However the tech who works on my chair feels I need 2 new motors. Since my controller at times locks up and other times resets itself I may also require a new controller brain and controller. This all could become very expensive. Recently I had new tires and batteries installed costing a whopping $1900 dollars. I only paid $200 for 4 new tires on my wife's car. Actually $120 on 4 tires and $80 on hidden charges and tax. Remember the day when mount and balance was free?

Nothings free anymore :(

Can't help to wonder if any of those 35,000 laid off Circuit City employees, or for that matter the 2 million unemployed from 2008 feel up to partying at Obama's $170 million dollar shin dig? All paid for by our tax dollars. How can he justify this? The nation is in extreme economic distress so a little " pick me up " $170 million dollar party is just right. I can see all those 2 million + unemployed folks gathered around their TV's ( assuming they didn't get repo'ed ) eating Bon Bon's and watching the big party.

Is this a demonstration of what we can expect from the Obama White House?

So right off the bat I'm not feeling real chipper about the next 4 years. But than to help push me further over the edge I read that Chris Rock can't find anything to joke about Obama. Apparently that $170 million party isn't funny. I bet anyone in the midwest who slept in their car last night can think of plenty to say. Chris Rock who finds his form of humor with everything and anybody including God can't find anything to say funny about Obama. And what about that Burris character. I quote " If I am not allowed to take Obama's seat, it should be considered an act of racism " Are we going to hear this crap for the next 4 years?

And they say racism has deminished.

I woke up this morning cold. That is unusual for me. I rarely am cold unless it is really cold or I'm ill. It is 68 degrees in the house so I think that rules out cold temperatures. Guess I'm coming down with something.

Went to my referral yesterday to see if the lump on the side of my face is cancer that I should be concerned with. I noticed in the mirror that I have a 2nd one, very small currently developing on my chin. I only noticed this because I shaved so the Doctor could have a clearer view. I scrubbed the mark on the chin but it didn't go away. Back in the late 90's I had a similar small lump on my forehead. Back than I picked at it with my fingernail. It would bleed a little and than one day it was just gone.

So I get to the referral, very nice office compared to my general Doctors place. I was a bit out of place with all the seniors waiting to see the Doctor. The glass doors that seperate the patients from the office staff were frosted. Never seen that before. Plus they were kept closed at all times. Any interaction between office staff and patient was done by sliding the glass window open only a couple inches. Of course by the time it was my turn talk to the secret society behind the frosted barrier I just couldn't help but ask if they were taking a shower back there or doing drugs.

It didn't matter since my insurance was not good enough for them. I left. Guess I'll go back to the tried and proven method of picking. To bad I lost 3 months of preventive scratching waiting for my appointment.

It was the early 70's when I stuck out my thumb and began the first of 5 round trip " walks " from coast to coast. Boy I met a lot of people. I also spent a great deal of time alone. I learned to " read " people very quickly. A skill that has slipped away somewhat over the years. I remember hitch hiking into Chicago one time to vist my grandmother. She was very upset that I had arrived in an area that she said was not very safe. I had befriended this guy who had confirmed her statement but kept watch over me while I waited for her to pick me up. All the way back to her trailer I was told over and over again how dangerous I had been. Grandmothers are like that. They feel that if they repeat themselves 10 or 20 times we grand children will learn it better.

My Grandmother was the best gift wrapper. The little things she'd put on the outside of the Christmas presents were as much fun as the gift itself. After Christmas, those little gift ornaments were packed away and used the following year as tree ornaments. The gifts were always so nicely done that you automatically opened them as gently as you possibly could to keep from destroying the work of art.

well its been a couple hours since I awoke cold, and I'm still cold.........Bummers.

The local news reported that housing starts were down 40% from this time last year in our neighborhood. For months we were told that we were lucky because the recession was not having any effect in our area. But in the last week the news was grim not only for housing starts but also unemployment is up. The state is foreseeing a possible shortage in funds.

I'm not thinking that all this just popped out of thin air. I think there are folks out there who think if they lie to the sheeple the sheeple will blindly believe. Isn't this how this mess started? BTW we knew something had to be going on based on the number of empty houses in our neighborhood.

Some slime ball broke into our cars the other night. That is twice in the last few months. This time they got $2. The officer who " took the report " seemed to think that with the economy as it is there will probably be more. As if bad economy was some form of justification for this type of behavior. In our house we don't have much but if your hungry we always have extra. You don't need to rob us.

Another thing, we asked the officer if he was going to take fingerprints. His response was it was to cold for fingerprint taking. I guess if you are planning a crime best do it in the winter time.

That old saying " Clothes make the man " apparently has merit. Couple weeks back we dressed Ian in pin stripes, white shirt, tie, vest the whole 9 yards. He went from saying he wants to be a truck driver to wanting to be President instantly. We'll be preppy dressing him from now on. No more sloppy clothing.

The remnants of Christmas are slowly getting put away. Well pu in the garage that is. My hand control project is on temporary hold since I currently can't access my work area. Hopefully it will be a short hold.

Wonder if my medications are causing troubles. Been really hard to focus on things, no real motivation. Even Christmas, usually one of my high points just wasn't there this year. And the last few days I've been feeling really really anxious. Probably dealing with depression but wouldn't know what it is since I don't think I'm depressed.

Anyways I'll keep an eye on it and chat with my Dr. next time I see her.